An example of a related technology is a network monitoring apparatus that captures packets passing through a switch by mirroring and monitors the state of the network.
Specifically, there is a method in which packets are successively analyzed and the state of the network is analyzed in an instant by performing processing to obtain the number of lost packets and a round-trip time (RTT) and other statistical processing according to analysis results. In another method, captured packets are accumulated and the state of the network is analyzed in an ex post facto manner.
However, a large load is involved in processing to extract packets having a prescribed property from a vast amount of data including packets extracted at random. If processing to accumulate packets is also performed in a series of processing flow including the analysis processing described above, processing performance in the instant analysis is lowered. A list structure may be used to temporarily sort packets. In this case as well, a large processing load is involved.
In recent years, a vast amount of data is being transferred on a network, so there is a demand for a packet storage method that contributes to smooth analysis without lowering the processing performance of a network monitoring apparatus.
Examples of related art are Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 2007-96413, 2008-11537, and 2004-158903.